The Fairbairn-Sykes Commando dagger has become iconic as the most widely
recognized fighting knife in the world. The origins of the dagger can be
traced to Shanghai in the 1930s where W. E. Fairbairn and US Marine
officers including Sam Yeaton carried out experiments in developing what
they considered the perfect knife for close combat.
When Fairbairn and Sykes became instructors for the Commandos, they
refined the design which would evolve into the classic Fairbairn-Sykes
dagger. The dagger was first used during early Commando raids into
occupied Europe but saw action in every theatre of World War II
(1939-1945). US Rangers and Marines who had trained with the Commandos
took their Fairbairn-Sykes daggers home which also influenced the
development of American Special Forces daggers. The Fairbairn-Sykes
remained in use with many units after the war, and has become a symbol
of commando and special forces units throughout the world.